Vicki Lynn Goldsmith, 2005 Iowa Teacher of the Year

Vicki Lynn Goldsmith is a teacher of English, Women's Studies and Theories of Knowledge (grade 12) at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa. Goldsmith has taught for 40 years, 16 of them at Roosevelt which has 1,600 students.

“The media tell us we never need to be in pain and that we can escape through pills, food, drugs or entertainment,” Goldsmith says. “It is important that we teach young people how to sit through the discomfort necessary to feel the present moment fully and to stay with a disturbing new idea to examine its source. The pace of our lives, and the emphasis on efficiency and multitasking, discourage real grappling with issues. We can counteract the detachment caused by acceleration, violence and technology in our society by building into our curricula those exercises that strengthen community and allow us to know ourselves and others. We must connect to address such social issues as our fear of our own multiculturalism. If we want graduates to think of art, literature and history as ways to solve problems, we must examine what is worth knowing, doing, and becoming.”